Hi friends,
After a 6 month 34’000km tour in Russia, Mongolia and Central Asia with my old 1991 BMW R100 GS PD, I thought it might be useful for other to write down the work I carried on my bike, what broke, what went wrong. I didn’t mentioned small jobs like cleaning spark plugs, adding oil or cleaning air filter.


100’000km: before the trip
Preventive gearbox overhaul, checked clutch wear and shaft wear, progressive front springs, new fork seals, Ohlins rear shock with harder spring, Laser exhaust with Y tube connection, handlebar riser, R1100 front brake caliper, central stand bash plate, touratech tank bag, hepco&becker junior II 30L panniers, 80L bag, airhawk 2 cushion, Touratech larger footpegs, bigger oil pan from Wunderlich (+1.3L capacity), Touratech Handguards, 12V car plug, RAM mount for Garmin 60CSX GPS
106’000km:
Oil leaks started on both front fork seals, bought new seals in Finland, hard spot in the steering, dismounted both steering bearings, cleaned and greased them. They were full of sand and probably still the original ones. Work done at forum member Sakk’s place in Joroinen (Finland).

110’000km:
Changed fork seals in Yekaterinburg (Russia), no wear noticeable, maybe the seals were bad (bought on eBay )? The fork tubes had some minor scratches on the surface.

111’000km:
Oil change (20W50 Motul), new oil filter, valves clearance adjusted in Novosibirsk (Russia).

114’000km:
Both rims damaged due to potholes and probably not enough pressure in the tires. Front and back tire “punctures” because the rims were not sealed anymore. Tube fitted in back tire, impossible to find a 21’ tube for front tire, back rim crack welded in Ulan Ude (Russia) for 5$. Front rim was veiled and tire was sealed with some silicone paste.

115’000km:
New set of rims (second hand) and tires (K60) fitted with tubes brought by my girlfriend in Ulanbataar (Mongolia)

116’000km:
Broke the right mirror and 2 indicators. Right Luggage rack needed some welding (Tseserleg, Mongolia), new right indicator bulb.

117’200km:
Back tire puncture, got help from Mongolian truck drivers who repaired the tube and the tire by gluing a big part of rubber inside the tire, airfilter change, spark plug change.


118’000km:
Right luggage rack welded again in Irkutsk (Russia)

120’000km:
Oil change (20W50 Motul) in Barnaul (Russia), valve clearance adjusted (almost no play left!)

124’000km:
Valve clearance check in Khorog (Tadkjikistan), new back tire (K60)

124’400km:
Front tire puncture, changed front tire (K60) and tube

125’500km:
Right luggage rack welded for the 3rd time in Uzbekistan

126’000km:
Noticed that when the bike in on center stand, there are some hard spot when turning the rear wheel and there is some noise. Dismounted to check and saw that on of the needle bearing from shaft was broken, replaced the U-joint with a part from a Russian Uaz jeep steeing in Samarcande (Uzbekistan).
Noticed that there is an oil leak from the gearbox into the swingarm.

128’200km:
Replaced the shaft with a second hand spare part I got sent from home per DHL in Atyrau (Kasakhstan). Checked the valves clearances.

129’000km:
Oil change (10W40), new oil filter, new spark plugs


132’600km:
Hard spot in the steering again, bearings dismounted, cleaned and grease, problem solved again, although this time no dirt was visible (Brasov, Romania).

133’900km:
Front tire puncture, tube repaired (Sarajevo, Bosnia).


for more information about my trip:
facebook: zimi on the loose
or www.zimiontheloose.ch

Nice list!

You have had a lot of problems with your wheels, what air-pressure did you use?

I had 1.8 bar at the front and 2.5 at the back

Sounds OK for dirt roads. Mind you, where people still ride horses and horse carts you're bound to pick up a nail now & then. Happend to me every time I was in Albania and Romania

IMHO the better luggage rack is from Touratech. Mine is good for 150 kkms on my old GS.

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)